


Exchange

by knowlee_raven



Series: Claudleth A-Z [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: AU, F/M, FFX inspired - Freeform, Temporary Main Character Death, and only the GD and Byleth can save us, angst w/a happy ending, but the warning is there just in case, more tags might potentially pop up, post time skip looks for everyone, things have gone to shit, violence won't get that bad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25456981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knowlee_raven/pseuds/knowlee_raven
Summary: Nemesis is winning.After initially killing him, Seiros unintentionally started a cycle where he would continuously resurrect himself until the time came when the Goddess herself could kill him. But, the problem was, how could she kill him if she were already dead?The only ray of hope lay in the hands of a young woman who reappeared at the monastery after disappearing as a baby. This is the short tale of that woman and of those that were chosen to protect her during that time. One of which is willing to do whatever it takes to prevent her from making a mistake that will cost her the freedom she so desires.FFX-inspired AU.~~Claudeleth Week Day 4: Reunion
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Claudleth A-Z [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760710
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8
Collections: Claudeleth Week 2020





	Exchange

* * *

A Fire Emblem Three Houses Fanfiction

Exchange

Chapter 1: Overwith

By: Knowlee Raven

* * *

While Claude normally was a patient man, at this point he was beginning to lose it.

He leaned his head back against the stone wall of the room they were all standing in, breathing out slowly in an attempt to calm himself down. After repeating the motion a few more times, a calmness slowly took over him and let his nerves finally relax.

...at least until another person standing in the room decided to speak up.

“How much longer is this gonna take?”

Immediately all of the other occupants of the room looked over at the person who spoke. The person in question shook her head, annoyance clearly shown on her face. “The longer we stay here, the more time it gives Nemesis and his goons to find us!”

Another member of the group responded. Her soft voice trying to keep down the tension. “Lysithea, I understand how you feel, but we can't leave until Byleth is done praying. I know it's bothersome, but that is that is duty of the Fell Star along with her Guardians.”

A sigh came from the woman standing next to her. “While I get that Marianne, I also understand Lysithea's point. I don't want to have to break a sweat and fight somebody if they show up...”

The man standing next to Claude huffed in annoyance. “Hilda, how you became a guardian is beyond me. I honestly don't know why Byleth chose you.”

Hilda glared, annoyed by his insinuation. “I could say the same about you, Lorenz. I'm surprised with how you act, Byleth can even stand you.”

The two began to bicker and the noise began to grate on Claude's nerves. He pinched his nose with his fingers. He needed to put a stop to this. With all the noise they were making, all it was going to do was make Lysithea's fears actually happen. “Alright, would you two cut it out?”

Both Hilda and Lorenz turned to give the brunette a glare. Lorenz was even about to open his mouth to make another comment before Claude stopped it. “Look I get tensions are high right now, but can we at least get along for the time being? I don't think Teach would appreciate that we spent all our time out here just arguing with each other. Plus,” He waved his hand towards the door at the entrance to the room they were standing in. “If we do have visitors in this building, we don't want to attract their attention, do we?”

With a bit of reluctance, the arguing parties relented in their frustrations and returned back to what they were doing before the fight had occurred. 

Claude took another glance over them all before looking back at the door that Byleth had entered into what seemed like hours ago. He frowned. He really hoped she was alright in there.

Although he didn't quite fully understand what the church, namely it's Archbishop Rhea, wanted her to achieve by doing this, he did know that he did find it ridiculous that this much was required in order to gain the Goddess' power.

Then again, if _he_ had access to a power than could literally stop the very incarnation of evil (or how he called him, a crusty old bastard), and someone wanted access to it, then he'd probably make them work for it to. But even still, it wouldn't be this much.

He sighed, thinking back on what got him to this point.

It was just over six months ago when he got thrown into this role of being guardian to a person the Church considered to be one of the greatest people important to the religion, aside from the Archbishop of course. He didn't even know he had been chosen to become one of them until his uncle, the ruling Duke Riegan told him about the request.

Apparently other people were set to be chosen to guide and protect the Fell Star, the title given to that person, in their mission to ready themselves to receive the Goddess' power and use it to defeat a being known as Nemesis. That plan was ready to be put into place in order to get the pilgrimage started as soon as possible, but before they could implement it, the crusty old bastard decided to wake up years early and begin his rampage.

First Adrestria fell.

Then went Faerghus.

And all that left was the Alliance. Who barely survived by the skin of it's teeth.

And that was probably all thanks to how the ruling system was set up in the country when compared to the other ones that met a grisly fate.

Instead of their power being centralized in one ruling family, in the Alliance it was delegated to five nobles who came together to make decisions for the country as a whole. And although there was technically a 'ruling duke' who had the final say so, it was still ruled by a majority as a way to keep the ruling member in check.

Plus they even had a system put up that way if someone went down, another member of the noble circle, the roundtable as it was called, would step up and take over to prevent there from being chaos erupting due to the loss.

Of course even then, that had it's problems, but it the end it did save them.

Especially when it was revealed that one of the five nobles was in leagues with the people who helped Nemesis destroy the other nations that comprised Fodlan.

Claude glanced over at Lorenz, his fellow guardian and self dubbed 'rival' due to the animosity that apparently ran through their family lines for centuries. It was his father that was the noble in question that betrayed the Alliance and even tried to have the other members killed in convenient “accidents”.

Unluckily for him, however, he was foiled in his plans to take over by none other his own son.

Lorenz had stumbled upon his father's plans shortly after the other nations fell and even though at first he struggled with the idea that his own father would do such a horrible thing, he eventually relented and turned his father in.

He knew it caused the man pain to have to do that to the person who raised him, but true to the words Lorenz used everyday to show who he was, ' _a true noble would put the needs of his people before his wants'_.

Claude turned his attention to his other companions. Like himself and Lorenz, they were all heirs to the ruling nobles of the Alliance and because of that particular closeness they had with them, along with the fact that there wasn't others they could chose from that they could trust, they were requested by the Fell Star themselves to be her personal guardians.

At first the Archbishop balked at the idea of having any of them close to her, and even said as such when they all had arrived at the monastery to take on their new role.

The reasons she gave her resistance were, well, infuriating to say that least. While he could understand some of the reservations she had towards some of them, Lorenz being an example since his father did betray them all and Hilda for her tendency to pass the buck onto other people, as for himself, Marianne and Lysithea those she had were downright cruel. Especially considering the reasons she had were for things they couldn't help at all.

Marianne she didn't trust due to her bearing the crest of The Beast, which apparently held a bad reputation around Fodlan, Lysithea's reason was due to her having been horribly experimented on as a child which had caused her lifespan to shortly dramatically and caused her significant physical changes. While yes, the experimentation was done by the people who were working in tandem with Nemesis, he knew for a fact that Lysithea wanted nothing to do with them. In fact, nothing would thrill her more than to see them all meet a gruesome end.

And for him?

Well, considering the fact that half of his blood came from the other side of the border where people were referred to as 'beasts' and that the church explicitly taught to not have contact with anyone outside Fodlan's borders, Rhea wasn't too fond of him.

Which was fine with him. The feeling was mutual.

At first he wanted to refuse the request when it was initially made because of this reason, but instead he decided he would use it to his advantage and try to learn some of the secrets that the church had been hiding for quite some time.

He wasn't sure what those secrets would be, but he knew when he found them, they would help solve many of the rumors he had heard about that place and would help him figure out exactly what was the relationship between the church and Nemesis and how this whole cycle got started in the first place.

The creaking sounds of doors being opened dragged Claude out of his thoughts and he, along with the others, turned to its source.

There in the doorway stood a woman bearing blue hair and clothes almost resembling robes. She looked as if she was a bit out of it which caused all of them to become concerned.

She took a few steps forward, desperately trying to keep her balance, before failing and pitching forward.

Claude quickly caught her before she could hit the ground and slowly lowered her until she was sitting down on the stone floor, her breath coming out in heavy pants. Concern filled his gaze as he searched her for any wounds. “Are you alright, Byleth?”

Byleth clutched at his arms as he never let go of her during his motion of guiding her. The dizziness coming from her tired body kept her from answering for a few minutes and it wasn't until Marianne followed up on Claude's question that she finally spoke. “The prayers here are done.” She looked away from the ground back up her companions. “We can go back to the monastery now.”

Lysithea sighed in relief. “That's good. I was getting a bit nervous down here.” The frown returned on her face. “Are you sure you're alright? I certainly know how it feels losing your energy after expending it for so long. You don't need to push yourself.”

Byleth forced a small smile to her face. “I'm fine, Lysithea. Thank you.”

Just as the young woman returned the gesture, a strange cry resounded from the corridor that the door leading out connected to. All six of them turned in its direction and shared a glance.

That didn't sound very pleasant.

Claude turned to the others. "Stay here." He motioned for Lorenz to follow.

The two moved closer to the door and peeked out to try and see who it was that was coming. Just as they did that, in the corner of Claude's eye, he saw three arrows come flying towards them. He quickly jerked Lorenz back and got nauseous at how close they were to killing him in that moment.

The men quickly threw their weight into closing the door before the intruders could get in. Just as they were about to succeed in this task, a loud roar rang out in the next room. Lorenz felt done in that moment. “They have a demonic beast. _Lovely..._ ”

As quick as they could, they moved various objects that were thrown about in the room in front of the door to help barricade it. After ensuring that it was blocked as well as it could, they backed up and immediately drew their weapons; Claude, his bow Failnaught and Lorenz, the wand Thyrsus.

Claude, after readying his bow with an arrow and aiming it at the door, spoke to the rest of the party. “Is there another way out?”

Byleth spoke up. Although she was exhausted, she still tried to stand up, Sword of the Creator in hand. “There was a door on the other side of the room where I was praying at. That could lead to an exit?”

Although Claude didn't want to force Byleth to move, he knew that if that door was an exit they would have no choice. “Let's try it then. It's better than sitting here waiting to get killed.”

Marianne spoke up, her hesitance leaking into her words. “But it's forbidden for anyone to go back there...”

Hilda cut her off. “Honestly, I think the Goddess would be forgiving if we broke the rules while trying to protect someone who's trying to win her favor.”

Lorenz agreed. “I concur.”

Lysithea was about to say her piece on the matter, when the door started to crack, creating a small hole for the enemy to start breaking it down. Claude let his arrow fly and heard a cry of pain. He notched another one. “We need to move. _Now._ ”

Lorenz walked over to Byleth, grabbed her arm gently and together with Marianne went through the back door. Lysithea and Hilda followed shortly after with Claude following, him releasing a few more arrows as the door gave way a bit more.

Just as he reached it and they closed those doors behind them, the other set broke open and soldiers, possessed bodies left behind in the two destroyed countries, began pouring into the room.

Once again they made another barricade before turning to find the door that Byleth had mentioned. It only took them a few moments to locate it and Hilda went up to go and force it open only to have it not budge. “It's not moving!”

They could hear banging coming from the room as the soldiers were trying to break down the doors again. A few more seconds passed before they heard an even louder noise and realized that the Demonic Beast Lorenz heard earlier was now the one slamming into the door.

They were running out of time.

“Move! I'll get it!” Lysithea forced her way to the front of the group and started to channel her magic in front of her. Hilda only had a few seconds to get out of the way before the young woman threw a ball of dark magic at the door which caused it to shatter into tiny stone fragments.

With a nod of thanks in her direction, the group began running into the next room eager to find a way out. Lorenz moved up at the front, using his fire magic to cause a ball of flames to erupt in his hand letting them see in the darkness. Claude lead up the rear, bow at the ready to fire at those who were after them. In the middle, Lysithea, Hilda and Marianne used both their strength and magic to help Byleth move with them.

The gang of six continued to sprint around the hallways desperately trying to find a way out all while the sounds of the soldiers grew closer and closer still. They were just about at the point of giving up and just fighting them head on, when Hilda pointed out some light being filtered out of an exit at the end of one hallway.

Sure, in the back of their minds they were skeptical that it could be a way out, but at this point in time, they took the chance and made a run for it.

Luckily someone was on their side, because as they grew closer to the light it became more and more apparent that it was indeed an exit.

They burst through the archway and began their search for the rides they used to make it to this location. Claude immediately whistled for his wyvern.

No sooner after doing that, the archway they just ran out of burst open, stone flying in every direction when the beast that had been chasing after them finally caught up. And then right after it, all of the possessed soldiers.

All of them, save for Hilda, began throwing magic and arrows at the impeding force coming for them. They managed to take out the first line, but as they kept going, due to their inhuman nature, not much phased them. It became clear that they were going to have to make a run for it.

Claude let another arrow lose at the beast that was attempting to get near a few of comrades. As they were focused on getting rid of the soldiers, he needed to keep it's attention on him. Apparently the plan worked cause the beast turned in his direction and raised one of its arms to swipe. He barely managed to dodge it in time.

After pulling out of the roll, he withdrew the Sword of Begalta out of his sheath and returned the beast's attack by slicing at one of it's legs, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground. Hilda backed up his attack by delivering one of her own to the creature's head, giving it a nasty cut.

Claude twirled his sword, readying it to give another blow, when he heard the familiar cry of his wyvern. It was music to his ears.

He attacked again at the beast to make it stayed down before he ran to his mount and quickly got on. The two took flight and Claude returned his sword for his bow. While calling on the power of his crest, he nocked an arrow and used his power to summon the attack of Fallen Star, using it to seriously damage the fallen creature.

After that being done, Claude shifted his sight over to the others to see that although they were faring well against the onslaught, even Byleth was, although he knew she was definitely going to reach her limit soon, it became clear that they were going to have to get out the area. He signaled to his wyvern to land behind them.

Once on the ground, he got the attention of Lorenz who was in the middle of dispatching a couple of the soldiers who dared to get too close to him. He spoke, “There's more coming. Probably need to look into leaving right about now.”

Rather than arguing as the two always tended to do whenever they were in each other's proximity, Lorenz agreed. “Indeed.” The lavender haired man glanced over at Byleth before looking back at Claude. “You'll need to take her with you. As you can see unlike the rest of us, I don't think she'll be able to make it back to her horse on her own. Let alone ride it.”

Claude nodded his head. Hopefully she'd be willing to oblige. He jumped off his wyvern and made his way over to the woman in question while nocking another arrow to shoot a soldier that had gotten too close to her.

The arrow that had breezed by had briefly surprised Byleth and as she spun around to take out another soldier that had managed to dodge the flying object, she felt a wave of dizziness hit her. Just before she hit the ground, she felt a warm pair of arms grab her to keep her upright and hold her close. “We need to leave.”

She jerked her head up towards the owner of the voice to see it was Claude. She should've known by the arrow she saw. She felt slightly indignant however, she wanted to more take of the enemy, but at the same time she was frustrated by her weakness. If she hadn't spent so much time focusing on praying to Sothis, she'd be able to easily cut them all down. “How?”

“You'll get on my wyvern with me and while I shoot arrows down to give them a distraction, we can all get away.” He began to pull her towards the gleaming white beast as he said this.

Still, she was stubborn. She wanted to fight. “I can take them.”

She heard him smile. “Never doubted it, my friend. But unfortunately the circumstances didn't work out for it today.”

Before she could protest further, he helped her up onto the flying mount and crawled up behind her. She watched as he sent a signal to the others before having his wyvern take off into the sky.

Byelth gripped him tightly as the air rushed past them as they grew higher and higher. She didn't dare look down. Instead she continued to keep her arms wrapped around him tightly as he used Failnaught to charge up another attack to keep the enemy busy and let their friends have a chance to escape.

* * *

Claude woke with the sun in his eyes.

How long was he asleep? The last thing he remembered was he and Byleth arriving in Remire Village after making sure the others had escaped. Since this was considered their rendezvous point if they ever got separated, it was where they went. By the time he and Byleth had gotten a room for all of them, the others had still yet to arrive.

He was concerned about that, but at the same time he wasn't. He knew the rest of their group since they were teenagers, they even attended the same academy and were in the same class. If anyone was going to make it back alive and with stories to tell, it would be them.

With a yawn, he lifted himself up out of the bed, tossing the blankets over his legs and looked over to one of the other beds where he had laid down Byleth the night before.

...only to see that she wasn't there.

At first he was scared as she had fallen asleep on their way here as he was holding her. The time she had spent in that old destroyed church had zapped most of her energy, then on top of her insisting on fighting alongside them, the rest was gone.

He knew she had to have slept like a log during the night after doing all that, so why was she out of bed now? Unless perhaps he slept a lot longer than he thought and it was actually midday and not morning like it initially thought it was.

He sighed. Well, time to get up and go find her.

* * *

After thanking the inn owner for allowing them to stay on such short notice and having them direct him to where he saw Byleth wander off to, Claude stepped out of the building. He could see the villagers running about doing their daily routines. Just whiling away while the world around them was surrounded in chaos.

It was surreal, really.

He didn't know how they could do it honestly. With all the destruction he saw on a near daily basis now and even having been chosen to help the one person who could stop it, it was hard for him to understand it.

At the same time though he could.

To smile and keep carrying on was a good way to show the world that nothing was wrong, even though on the inside you were falling apart. It was also a good way to keep everyone else from falling apart with you.

Claude didn't grow up in the lap of luxury as a kid. Sure, his parents were rich and well, were literally in a high place, he still had to deal with shitty things that no child should've had to deal with. Due to that and the fact that he didn't want to tell his parents, he hid all that pain behind smiles and smirks and used that as a proverbial shield to keep others from getting too close to hurt him.

He carried on that policy up until the moment he arrived at the monastery to be knighted as a guardian to the Fell Star. And he even tried keeping up after that, but as he grew closer and closer to the people he was fighting alongside to try and bring some hope to this dark land, it became harder to keep up that policy.

Sure they had their moments of tension, but those moments usually gave way to understandings and he realized that if Fodlan's future rested in the hands of these people who were willing to give others a chance and look beyond first impressions, then it might just have a chance at bringing true peace into the world. Especially when it was his dream to make it reality.

Byleth though was a different story.

She got a lot closer than the others. At first he wasn't sure why, but as time went on and they started traveling the whole of Fodlan escorting her places, it slowly became clear.

He was falling in love with her.

Or at the very least he already was.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly how it started. Maybe it was the fact that she treated him like an actual human being instead of someone to be feared, maybe it was because it was she kept valuing his opinions and wanted his thoughts on things instead of just brushing them aside, or maybe it was because of the fact that she could very well kick his ass and he would thank her for it.

More than likely it would probably stay a mystery.

Either way, the revelation made him more determined to protect her from the people who wanted to kill her to keep the goal of saving Fodlan from disaster from being reached. If anything, once this was all said and done, he would like to take her away from the church and give her something else to look forward to. Perhaps even back to his homeland.

He wouldn't force her if she didn't want to, but she, of all people, deserved to live a life that was solely her own. Not just for others and definitely not just for Rhea.

Just for her, Byleth.

Speaking of the woman, Claude finally found her sitting down under a nearby tree, crowd watching just as he was a few moments earlier. He made his way over to where she was and plopped down onto the ground. “Get enough sleep?”

Byleth briefly glanced in his direction before nodding and returning her gaze. “I could probably use a little more, but I wanted to be awake when the others finally made it.” She looked at him again. “They should be here by now, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. We got here a lot earlier than them since we flew and didn't have to worry about any obstacles in our path. Even so, it only takes a day and a half's travel to make it from there. They'll be walking through that gate any minute now, probably griping at each other over something or another.”

Byleth laughed. It was true that the group they made was an interesting one and did have their moments, but she knew she still wouldn't change her decision to have them be with her during all this.

When Rhea initially wanted her to have some of the Knights of Seiros follow her instead, she immediately declined. She could tell that the Archbishop wasn't pleased with her choice at first but eventually relented and allowed it.

And for that she was glad. She knew if she did go along with Rhea's choice, she wouldn't have had such an interesting time, nor would she have made friends with anyone like she did with all of them. All of the Knights back at the monastery had a tendency to treat her like she was fragile and didn't want to interact with her much due to her heightened status. She probably would've lost herself if she had stayed with them.

But with the group she traveled with now, that wasn't the case.

They kept her entertained and even conversed with her on subjects she was curious about and helped keep her apprised of what was going on in the world. It reminded her of the days when she used to travel with her father and his mercenary gang. Their personalities and interactions she with them were nearly the same. That may have been the biggest factor in why she rebelled against Rhea's decision and chose them instead.

She wanted friends and people who cared for her as a person. Not people who treated her like glass.

And well, sometimes some people in the group did, but they never took it as far as those at the monastery.

Claude was one example.

Like yesterday during that battle, he wanted to keep her protected but only because she was exhausted from what she had done earlier. If she didn't feel that way at all, he would've let her at the enemies that were attacking them and just backed her up.

If he was a Knight of Seiros, that wouldn't have happened.

“What's on your mind there, my friend?”

Byleth took in a deep breath, returning to look back at the throngs of people. “Just thinking of what's coming next.”

“Ah, right. The 'Divine Revelation' was what Rhea called it. Am I remembering it right?”

She nodded. “Yes. Now that I've prayed at all of the three churches and gained more insight on how to summon Sothis' power, that's the next step.” She wrung her hands slightly to help keep her nerves calm. “To be honest, I'm scared of what that 'revelation' is.”

Claude furrowed his brows together. “You don't know what it is? Rhea hasn't told you?”

She shook her head. “No, not yet anyway. I'm sure she'll explain it once we get back at the monastery. I guess it's just the fear of not knowing exactly what it is that's bothering me.”

Claude inclined his head. “That's understandable. I'm the same. I like to know what I've got to work with.” He smirked, mischievousness appearing in his eyes. “That's probably why I tend to scheme so much and make sure I have a plan for anything.”

Byleth laughed loudly. “That explains it. It's not a bad idea really. To be ready for anything is probably a good way to keep from worrying too much. It helps you keep some semblance of control.”

Claude agreed. “Especially nowadays with how the world is.” He motioned towards the people shopping at the nearby market. “Sometimes I find it hard to believe that people are acting as if nothings wrong, but in all honesty they're probably doing the same thing. Planning for the worst, so that way when it happens, they won't have to worry about what comes after.”

Byleth followed his gaze. “They shouldn't have to. No one should. That's why I decided to help Rhea with her task when I came to the monastery looking for work. Once I found that there was a way I _could_ help and give people more of a fighting chance, I took it. Granted I didn't think it would require this much work, especially in an area that I never though I would ever work in, but considering I'm the only one who _can_ do this, I'm willing to go through with it.”

A slight frown formed on Claude's face before he quickly changed it to a neutral expression. “I hope whatever it is you have to do for this 'Divine Revelation', that's it's worth all this trouble.”

A small smile formed on her face. She was glad he understood. “It is. Whatever gives them a brighter future, I'll do it.”

Claude had images pop up in his head of the people he encountered that came from his land in Fodlan being treated like dirt and thought of the reverse image of people here being treated badly back there. He could definitely understand where she was coming from. He would do the same for them, for everyone in both countries. “I agree. To give others a better chance at life, it's a good enough reason for me.”

Byleth's heart warmed at his smile. She hoped that even after all this was over that Claude would continue to stay at her side. They both had the same dreams and she wanted nothing more than to see them achieve them together.

The two heard arguing coming from the village's entrance and turned to see a familiar rainbow of colors walk into the village. They smiled at each other before standing to greet them. Their companions had finally made it.

* * *

The Knights of Seiros surrounded them as they were escorted to the audience chamber where both Archbishop Rhea and her assistant Seteth were waiting. They had arrived at the sacred place only a few minutes ago and were told to be brought before them immediately when they appeared.

As the doors to the aforementioned room were opened, they could see the two figures they were to see standing before them, eagerly awaiting. The woman, Rhea, spoke first. “Ah, Byleth! It is lovely to see you and your guardians here in one piece! I assume everything went well?”

Byleth nodded, deadpan expression set on her face. “As well as it could be. We did get attacked a few times, especially during our trip to the last church, but we came out of it relatively unscathed.”

Rhea's smile grew a bit wider. “That's good. And now that that is out of the way, you are ready for the next step.”

“The Divine Revelation?”

Rhea clasped her hands together, glee evident on her expression. “Yes, but before then, you have one other thing you must do and that is to chose your tether.”

Byleth was confused. “My tether?”

Seteth took this time to speak. “Yes, your tether is the person you choose out of your guardians to act as a tether for you when you receive the revelation. They are meant to be used to keep you tied to your humanity as the Goddess comes down to give you her power.”

Byleth contemplated this new information. “So I just have to chose who I want?”

Rhea nodded slowly. “You don't have to chose now, but to help with your choice, it needs to be someone who is closest to you. Someone you know that will be able to bring you back from the brink if need be.”

Claude narrowed his eyes at her words. Just why would she be at the brink? A small part of him figured it had something to do with mortals probably not being able to handle a divine being's magic, but even then, something just didn't sit right with him on that.

Byleth was also thinking about her words, but in a different sense. Only one face popped up in her mind's eye when she heard them. And he was standing right next to her.

Rhea spoke again. “But for now, it's time to go rest. I'm sure you all need it after your travels. The Knights will come and get you all when it's time for the evening meal. Thank you all for your endeavors.”

And with that, the group was once again escorted out and after leaving the room they were all left to their own devices. Claude decided then that he would escort Byleth back to her room, because he knew out of all of them, she needed rest the most.

“I wonder what they're gonna serve for dinner tonight? Hopefully something better than what we've been eating for the past few months!” Claude stretched his arms above his head as the two walked.

Byleth laughed, momentarily drawn out of her thoughts. “I think anything would be better than what we had. Although it wasn't that much different from what I had to eat back when I was a mercenary.”

He smiled. “True. I'm sure it brought back some good memories instead. I know I never once heard you complain.”

She huffed. “What can I say, I like food.”

Claude laughed knowing full well that it was the truth. She was probably one of two people he knew that would eat whatever was put in front of them. The other being an old classmate of his that he hadn't seen in years since their graduation. He vaguely wondered how he was doing now. Especially with all that had happened since then.

Soon they came upon the door to her bedroom and Claude bowed playfully before her. “Well, now that you're here, I'll leave you be, my friend. I'll see you at the dining hall this evening. Sleep well!”

She smiled. “You too, Claude. Thank you for everything.”

He returned the gesture and with a wave turned to head up to his room on the second floor. Byleth's eyes watched as his figure grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared after turning a corner to head up the stairs. After she was certain he was no longer seen, she turned towards the door of her own bedroom and entered it to prepare for a short nap.

Although Rhea had given her time to make her decision on who would be there with her, she knew in her heart that she had already decided.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, originally I planned for this to only be a one chapter thing, but I started expanding the lore and all that good stuff with and it turned into this. XD
> 
> So while it was made with Claudeleth Week in mind, the actual 'Reunion' part won't get here until much later in the story. My bad...
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this. Not sure when I'll update it, but it will be much later since I'm gonna take a break from all this writing after this weeks over with.
> 
> And speaking of that there is a possibility that like this one, the other days will be delayed. I still plan on doing them, but they probably won't be posted on the day that they were to be up on originally. Sorry for that!
> 
> Until next time~!


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